Exercising apparatus



April 29, 1941. J. A. MASTERS EXERCISING APPARATUS Filed July 16, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor J06 fit Mash/1s A iiorney Patented Apr. 29, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXERCISING APPARATUS John A. Masters, Los Angeles, Calif. Application July 16, 1940, Serial No. 345,817

1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in exercising apparatus for self treatment, the principal object in view being to provide a practical apparatus for home or gymnasium use in stretching the spinal column to correct mis-alignment of the spinal vertebrae and relieve nerve pressure, and also to stretch the muscles of the arms, shoulders and torso to tone up such muscles and develop the same.

To the accomplishment of the above object, and the subordinate objects presently appearing, a preferred embodiment of my invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, is set forth in detail in the succeeding description, and defined in the claim appended hereto.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a View in front elevation illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention and the use thereof,

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the helmet,

Figure 3 is a view in front elevation of the helmet,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in plan of the chin straps of the helmet,

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of the helmetsupporting rod,

Figure 6 is a detailed View in longitudinal section taken on line 6-45 of Figure 1, and

Figure 'I is a view in elevation of one of the hand-grips.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the apparatus of my invention comprises a horizontal bar I including a pair of sections 2 arranged with inner ends side by side and parallel in a central sleeve 3 for endwise sliding adjust ment to increase or diminish the length of said bar, the sleeve 3 having a set screw 4 therein for clamping said bars together and tight in the sleeve in different adjustments thereof. The sections 2 may be made of any suitable material, preferably wood, and the sleeve 3 of suitable metal. A central hook 5 on the sleeve and a chain 6 on said hook provide for suspending the bar in balanced position from a hook I in an overhead support 8 such as the ceiling of a room.

The outer ends of the sections 2 are hookshaped, as at 9, and a pair of link type suitable hand-grips Ill are provided for suspension from said hooked ends, for a purpose presently seen.

A helmet H for the head of one using the apparatus is suspended from the sleeve 3 in vertical alignment with the chain 6 by means presently described. The helmet II has the form of a hood of any suitable flexible material such as canvas and is' formed from a single piece of such material folded intermediate its ends to provide a straight top, or peak, l2, sides, I 3, with ear holes l4 therein and chin straps, or flaps I5. The front of the helmet is closed part way down from the top 12 by a front edge flap 16 on one side fixed, as at IT, to the other side. The back of the helmet is normally open but adapted to be partly closed by a zipper slide fastener designated l8, extending part way up the rear edges of said sides to leave a ventilation opening in the back of the helmet. The chin straps l5 are provided with buttons and button holes l9, 2i], respectively for securing the same together under the chin.

A round rod 2|, preferably of wood, is provided in the top of the helmet l I to extend along the top juncture of said sides l3 and is provided with a central hook 22 extending through the center of the top 12 in any suitable manner. A chain 23 attached to the hook 22 and to a similar hook 24 depending centrally from the bottom of the sleeve 3 provides for suspending the rod 2| and hence the helmet II from said sleeve.

In the use of the described invention, the sections of the bar I being adjusted to impart to the bar the proper length and the device suspended, as described, at the proper height for the user of the apparatus, the person desiring to use the apparatus dons the helmet H in a manner which will be clear, grasps the handgrips Ill and bends the knees or lifts the feet from the floor thereby partially, or wholly, suspending his body by the head and arms. As a result of such suspension, the arms and upper torso muscles are stretched and toned up toether with those of the neck, and the spinal column is stretched so as to straighten the same and relieve nerve pressure occasioned by subluxation lateral and otherwise of the spinal vertebrae.

As is recognized, such treatment of the muscles, and spine is highly beneficial in relieving many disorders.

The foregoing will, it is believed, sufiice to impart a clear understanding of my invention without further explanation. V

Manifestly the invention, as described, is susceptible of modifications without departing from the inventive concept and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the subioined claim.

What I claim is:

Apparatus for suspending the body of a person from a fixed overhead support comprising a bar, means to suspend said bar from said support in horizontally balanced position, a hoodlike flexible helmet for the head of the person having chin flaps for attachment together to secure the helmet en the head and a straight. top portion, a rod in said top part, a central hook on said rod extending out of said top and a chain connecting said hook to said bar in the center of equilibrium thereof.

JOHN A, MASTERS, 

